As an aluminium smelter belches pollution into the brown sky over Huangjiawa, a villager who used to till the land where the smelter now sits recalls a time when things were different. “Ten years ago the water in our rivers was so clean, even cleaner than the piped water is today,” says Mr Zhang, who declined to give his full name.

一家铝厂正向黄家洼昏黄的天空排放污染物。该厂现在所在的地方曾是一片农田，一位在这片农田耕种过的农民依然记得，过去这里曾是另一番景象。这位姓张的先生（他不愿透露自己的全名）表示：“十年前，我们这里的河水非常干净，甚至比今天的自来水都干净。”

Today the area has one of the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world, and the wells that sustained the village for centuries have been poisoned.

如今，该地区胃癌发病率位居世界前列，村民们数百年来赖以为生的那些水井已经被污染了。

But unlike other victims of pollution across China, the village of Huangjiawa has shot to prominence as an online media campaign highlighting its plight has sparked a debate about groundwater contamination that has ricocheted all the way to Beijing. For Xi Jinping, China’s new leader who will be named head of state next week, growing public anger over environmental deterioration is set to be a key test of his leadership.

但与中国其它受污染侵害的地区不同，黄家洼村如今是人们关注的焦点。最近，网媒大量报道了黄家洼村的悲惨遭遇，进而引发了一场关于地下水污染问题的争论，这场争论的余波一直波及到北京。对下周将被任命为国家主席的中国新领导人习近平来说，环境恶化引发的越来越大的民愤将对其领导能力构成重大考验。

Chinese citizens are turning online to vent their anger over pollution – and the government has been forced to respond. When smog blanketed northeastern China in January, the public knew about it instantly because of the pollution apps that many have on their smartphones, and the government in Beijing rolled out new anti-pollution measures within days.

中国公众纷纷转向互联网来发泄他们对污染问题的不满，政府被迫对此作出回应。今年1月当雾霾笼罩中国东部和北部时，由于许多中国人的智能手机上装有污染指数应用，公众很快就知道了雾霾的具体情况，数天之后，中央政府推出了新的污染治理措施。

The debate over groundwater pollution in Weifang prefecture, where Huangjiawa village is, was sparked by a post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblog service. It went viral, and recently the issue of water pollution has been raised on primetime television and elicited an admission of the existence of hitherto hushed-up “cancer villages” from the government. In the post, activist Deng Fei accused aluminium smelters in Weifang of illegally pumping wastewater underground into pressurised wells. The issue struck a chord with Mr Deng’s 3m followers.

围绕中国山东省潍坊市（黄家洼村隶属该市）地下水污染问题展开的争论是由新浪微博(Weibo)上的一个帖子引发的。新浪微博是中国类似Twitter的微型博客服务网站。这个帖子的内容迅速在网民中传播开来。近日来，水污染问题已成为中国电视黄金时段的讨论话题，而且还导致政府承认中国确实存在一些迄今罕有人知的“癌症村”。在上述帖子中，公益人士邓飞指控潍坊的铝厂非法通过高压水井将废水注入地下。这个话题在邓飞的300万“粉丝”中引起了共鸣。

More than 70 per cent of China’s groundwater is polluted, which scientists say has resulted in higher rates of cancer and other illnesses.

中国有逾70%的地下水受到污染。科学家们表示，这已提升了癌症和其他疾病的发病率。

During the lunar new year, dozens of Mr Deng’s followers posted images of polluted rivers in their hometowns when they returned home for the holidays.

今年春节期间，邓飞的数十名“粉丝”回家过年时在微博上贴出了家乡受污染河流的照片。

“With Weibo, any person can be a reporter,” says Mr Deng, a reporter-turned-activist who is well-known for founding a charity that provides free lunches for poor children. “Before Weibo, information was monopolised by mainstream and official media, and there weren’t many channels to express different voices.”

邓飞表示：“有了微博，任何人都可以成为记者。”邓飞是一名记者出身的公益人士，他以发起向贫穷孩子提供免费午餐的慈善活动而闻名。“微博出现之前，信息被主流和官方媒体垄断，公众没有多少渠道表达不同意见。”

Mr Deng and others are at the forefront of an environmental movement that has become more powerful as local governments respond to what is said online.

如今，他与一些人正奋战在环保运动的最前沿。由于地方政府开始回应网络舆论，环保运动如今已变得更具影响力。

Last month, a Chinese entrepreneur used Weibo to offer a reward of Rmb200,000 ($32,000) if the top environmental official in Rui’an, in Zhejiang province, swam in a polluted river. A week later, China’s national broadcaster featured an interview with the squirming official, who promised to swim in the river within three to five years.

上个月，一位中国企业家在微博上悬赏20万元人民币（合3.2万美元），邀请浙江省瑞安市环保局长在一条受到污染的河中游泳。一周后，中国中央电视台播出了对瑞安市环保局长的专访，这位官员面带尴尬地承诺，将在三至五年内到这条河里游泳。

In Weifang prefecture the government was quick to respond to Mr Deng’s Weibo post. The city’s propaganda department asked the local environmental protection bureau to investigate.

在潍坊市，政府迅速对邓飞的微博帖子作出了回应。潍坊市委宣传部要求当地环保局对此事展开调查。

The environmental bur-eau checked more than 700 factories in the county – and within days issued a statement saying that none was pumping wastewater underground. The bureau set up a hotline for tips on environmental violators, promising a reward of Rmb100,000 to anyone who could find the allegedly polluting deep wells.

潍坊市环保局排查了该市逾700家工厂，并在几天后发布了一份声明，称未发现这些工厂有把废水注入地下的行为。该局还设立了举报环保违规者的热线，承诺对举报所谓将污水注入深井行为的人奖励10万元人民币。

“The reason we offered the prize is that we need the power of all the people, not only the government and the media, to solve this problem,” said an official at the environmental bureau in Weifang, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

该局一位不愿透露姓名的官员表示：“我们之所以提供奖金，是因为我们需要借助所有人的力量来解决这个问题，而不是仅仅依靠政府和媒体。”

The Weibo storm was also noticed in Beijing, where the ministry of environment issued a statement specifically responding to comments made on Weibo.

微博上形成的这场风暴也引起了中央政府的注意，中国环境保护部专门发布了一份声明来回应人们在微博上发表的言论。

Scientists say the contamination of underground streams and aquifers is becoming a health crisis. “What harm is caused by groundwater pollution? High rates of illness,” says Zhao Zhangyuan, an expert on water pollution at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. “Groundwater pollution has already entered a state of extreme crisis.”

科学家们表示，地下河流和地下蓄水层受到的污染正在引发健康危机。中国环境科学研究院水污染问题专家赵章元表示：“地下水污染会造成什么危害？主要是高发病率。现在地下水污染已经进入高度危险的状态。”

Groundwater pollution is also linked to soil pollution and tainted crops, because farmers often use polluted wells to water their fields.

地下水污染问题还与土壤污染和农作物污染问题有联系，这是因为，农民经常使用受到污染的井水灌溉农田。

In the smoggy countryside where Mr Zhang lives, farmers grow crops and use water drawn from wells near petrochemical plants and paper mills that discharge effluent.

本文开始提到的那位张先生所居住的雾霾笼罩的乡村，农民们在种植庄稼时使用的水，正是从不断排放废液的石化厂和造纸厂附近的井里抽出来的。

China’s soil pollution levels are considered a “state secret”, and Beijing has refused to disclose the results of an investigation into soil contamination.

中国的土壤污染等级被视为“国家机密”，中国政府拒绝透露土壤污染调查的结果。

Despite the severity of water pollution, activists say social media could gradually make a difference.

尽管水污染问题相当严重，公益人士仍表示，社交媒体或可逐渐改变这种局面。

Back in Huangjiawa, Mr Zhang says he has heard of Weibo and thinks it is a useful tool. “As a citizen, no one can stop our right to speak out,” he says. But some online activists pay a high price. Last weekend an environmental campaigner was badly beaten after posting about water pollution in Zhejiang province.

黄家洼的张先生表示，他听说过微博，而且认为它是一种有用的工具。他说：“作为公民，没人能剥夺我们说话的权利。”不过，网上一些公益人士为自己的所作所为付出了高昂的代价。近日，一位环保运动人士在发布了关于浙江水污染的帖子后遭到围殴。